Dear Families,
Mrs. Umberger and I spoke about the best way to approach the topic of 9/11 with the children. It happened before they were born... and it is such a deep trauma... we decided that we would respond if the children asked about it. Conflicted about wanting to provide an understanding about the history and values of our country and wanted to protect their innocence a bit longer, please let us know if you have any thoughts either way. There are a few children's books that are appropriate that I could read gently with the kids.
On a happier note, in writing, we are beginning a lovely unit on personal narratives, "A SLICE of LIFE". It will include the concepts of introduction, beginning, middle, end, satisfying conclusion and developing an idea with details. I will use a T-Chart to wake up memories in a "Then and Now" format. This will allow us to use temporal words in our narratives. Some of our mentor texts will be, Wilifred Gordon McDonald Partridge and Family Pictures.
In all the 2nd grade classes, our read aloud of Gooney Bird Greene is almost complete and we will plan a day when we will get to come to school dressed up!
Reading routines continue to develop. Independent reading is a joyful time for all of us. The students have begun to track the books they are reading in their readers response notebooks. This week, I will support the students in purposeful partner reading. From the book, The Daily 5, "Reading to someone allows for more time to practice strategies, helpying you work on fluency and expression, check for understanding, hear your own voice, and share in the learning community."
The Thinking Strategies that are building upon one another are Activating Schema (bringing forth prior/background knowledge and making connections) and now Monitoring for Meaning (Check for Understanding and Fix-Up Strategies).
For Math we have been working really hard to take charge of our learning. We now have Math Groups running and are working on what is next in each students learning. While some kids are mastering addition facts or the number grid others are working on telling time or word problems. They are also creating Math games in which the topic is something that they have been struggling in. The reason for this is that in order for them to create the game, they must master the topic and practice and check the work on their game. These games will be kept in class for a few weeks to allow other students to play each others, and then we will take some home so that students can use them to practice concepts at home with their families.
This week we will also be beginning our Science Unit about Earth Materials. If you have ideas or additions you think the students would benefit from please e-mail me and I will try to fit in as many experiences as I can! We focus on igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and their formation. Along with clay, loam and sand. We also go into the water cycle throughout this unit so extensions in any of those areas would be wonderful!
Thanks for all of your support and have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Umberger and I spoke about the best way to approach the topic of 9/11 with the children. It happened before they were born... and it is such a deep trauma... we decided that we would respond if the children asked about it. Conflicted about wanting to provide an understanding about the history and values of our country and wanted to protect their innocence a bit longer, please let us know if you have any thoughts either way. There are a few children's books that are appropriate that I could read gently with the kids.
On a happier note, in writing, we are beginning a lovely unit on personal narratives, "A SLICE of LIFE". It will include the concepts of introduction, beginning, middle, end, satisfying conclusion and developing an idea with details. I will use a T-Chart to wake up memories in a "Then and Now" format. This will allow us to use temporal words in our narratives. Some of our mentor texts will be, Wilifred Gordon McDonald Partridge and Family Pictures.
In all the 2nd grade classes, our read aloud of Gooney Bird Greene is almost complete and we will plan a day when we will get to come to school dressed up!
Reading routines continue to develop. Independent reading is a joyful time for all of us. The students have begun to track the books they are reading in their readers response notebooks. This week, I will support the students in purposeful partner reading. From the book, The Daily 5, "Reading to someone allows for more time to practice strategies, helpying you work on fluency and expression, check for understanding, hear your own voice, and share in the learning community."
The Thinking Strategies that are building upon one another are Activating Schema (bringing forth prior/background knowledge and making connections) and now Monitoring for Meaning (Check for Understanding and Fix-Up Strategies).
For Math we have been working really hard to take charge of our learning. We now have Math Groups running and are working on what is next in each students learning. While some kids are mastering addition facts or the number grid others are working on telling time or word problems. They are also creating Math games in which the topic is something that they have been struggling in. The reason for this is that in order for them to create the game, they must master the topic and practice and check the work on their game. These games will be kept in class for a few weeks to allow other students to play each others, and then we will take some home so that students can use them to practice concepts at home with their families.
This week we will also be beginning our Science Unit about Earth Materials. If you have ideas or additions you think the students would benefit from please e-mail me and I will try to fit in as many experiences as I can! We focus on igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and their formation. Along with clay, loam and sand. We also go into the water cycle throughout this unit so extensions in any of those areas would be wonderful!
Thanks for all of your support and have a wonderful week!
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